


Wings

by leporidae



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Bird/Human Hybrids, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 15:41:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5503370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leporidae/pseuds/leporidae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All members of royalty receive a human hybrid as a pet when they come of age.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kotaka_kun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kotaka_kun/gifts).



> Part four of five.
> 
> This is my favorite ship in KnB, so it ended up being the longest and most serious of the bunch.

The date is July 7th, and it is the eighteenth birthday of Midorima Shintarou. Today he sits in his spacious bedroom, his hands clasped over his lap prim and proper as he awaits his promised gift. 

It is rolled out with a rattling noise by the royal servants, a tall and symmetrical shape obscured by a heavy white cloth. Everyone - the servants, his parents, his sister - trains their expectant gazes on him as he approaches the object with an outstretched hand, grasping the fabric of the cloth with taped fingers and running his thumb over the seams. He hesitates; he is aware of what to expect, of the burdens of cruelty he will be forced to bear by unveiling and accepting such a gift, but he is a young man who abides by tradition. He cannot and will not refuse.

Midorima tugs on the cloth. It crumples to the floor in a heap, leaving his new reality bare before him.

In front of his eyes is a massive bird cage, bars of polished silver glinting in the morning sunlight filtering in through the open window. But it is the man inside the cage - if he can even be called a man - who leaves Midorima quite breathless. His legs are covered by tattered black pants, but his chest is bare, and protruding from his back is a pair of the most beautiful wings Midorima has ever seen, speckled with white and honey gold. He had known, of course, that as the prince he would be given only the highest quality human hybrid to keep as a pet, but he had vastly underestimated just how mesmerizing such unnatural beauty could be. It is with great willpower that he tears his gaze away from the rippling feathers to train his eyes on the man's face - where he receives yet another shock. For the human features of this man are equally captivating, asymmetrical bangs framing steel grey eyes that possess an almost feral intensity. Midorima shivers as he and his pet lock eyes, the look of haunted desperation impossible to misinterpret in the other's gaze.

"Is the choice to your liking, young master?"

The voice, belonging to one of the servants, is almost enough to snap him out of his reverie, but not quite. Midorima nods mutely, hoping his admiration is not overtly apparent on his features. After all, to look at a pet - something lower than human - with such adoration is nothing short of unnatural. "I would like some time alone to... examine him," he manages finally, the words as dry as his throat currently feels.

His mother stands, sets a reassuring hand on her son's shoulder. "I felt the same as you when I received mine," she says softly. "She was beautiful - a fawn. I couldn't believe that such a strange creature existed. But you will grow used to it, with time." And with that, she and the rest have vacated the room, leaving Midorima with no time to process her words - or the reality that now he is alone with this human-but-not-human man, whose intense gaze is making his skin prickle.

He approaches the cage, one hand stretched out tentatively. Instantly the creature shies away, tucking his wings against his body compactly as he takes a step towards the back grate of his prison. Midorima's bottom lip juts out slightly with both disappointment and curiosity, but it is the latter feeling that propels him forward another step. The winged man's eyes further darken with suspicion, and Midorima knows he ought to say something, anything, to ease the other's mind.

_I won't treat you like a slave._

_We can even be friends, if you'd like._

What leaves his lips instead is much rawer, much more honest, than he ever would have intended, surprising even himself.

"You're beautiful."

There's genuine puzzlement on the creature's face as he raises an eyebrow at Midorima. The prince waits expectantly, feeling slight warmth rushing to his cheeks as he contemplates what he has just uttered. Perhaps saying something like that will only serve to make the man even less inclined to speak to him. Perhaps he can't speak at all. Perhaps -

"Am I supposed to find that flattering?"

The man's voice is rusty, as if he has not used it for days or weeks. But it has an almost singsong lilt that only serves to draw Midorima in further. "Regardless of how you find it, it is merely the truth."

The creature's lips, formerly frowning with suspicion, now curl into a smirk; Midorima feels his chest squeeze, his heartbeat quicken. Aesthetically, his new pet is nothing short of perfect - too perfect - and it makes the very label of "pet" seem wrong. Every expression he makes sets Midorima's heart hammering, and they've barely been together for five minutes.

"Trying to butter me up even though I'm practically your slave now, hmm?" The winged man runs one hand through his hair, and Midorima finds himself captivated by the delicate way in which his bangs flutter back to his forehead. He swallows. "Not only that, but you don't even know my name. What manners." A light _tsk_ leaves the other's lips.

"Then tell me," Midorima says evenly, trying to force his gaze to lock onto the other's without faltering. "Tell me your name."

The creature's lips press into a line, wiping away any remaining traces of his grin. It appears he is a bit thrown by Midorima's blunt and forward manner of speaking, and he coughs sheepishly, eyes wandering to the ceiling. "It's Takao... Takao Kazunari."

"Takao..." The name feels right in his mouth. "I'm Midorima. Midorima Shintarou."

"I know."

Of course he would know. Midorima is part of the royal family, after all, and Takao had most likely been created for his benefit. The poorest of the poor, the people with no family left and nothing to live for, were pulled from the slums to be experimented on, to become pretty ornaments the royals could fawn over to their liking. "I was merely trying to be courteous."

Takao laughs harshly. "What a joke. Trying to lower my guard so I'll be more likely to do tricks for you later, run your errands and pose for your friends?"

Midorima's mother's pet had done all those things for her and more, but the thought doesn't sit well in his mind, especially when the person before him is both so alluring and so _human_. "I want to get to know you."

Wings unfurling slightly, the caged man leans forward as if to try to detect a lie on the prince's face. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I would like you to, yes."

Takao is silent for a moment, and then he's laughing, clutching his chest with his arms as peals of mirth ring through the room. It's not delicate by any means, but Midorima can only think that it's the most melodious sound he's ever heard. "Are you serious?" Takao finally manages to wheeze after a good few minutes of shaking. "For someone supposedly so well educated, you really don't know anything. Look at the situation - look at me, with your eyes. Unless those glasses of yours really don't do anything, you can see the reality, can't you? I'm in a cage, you're not. You'll never trust me, because you'll keep me here as your pet by force, and I'll never trust you either. As long as that's the case, I'll never tell you a thing about myself. End of discussion."

Midorima is thoughtful for a moment. "Then... if I let you out...?"

Not for the first time, the creature looks confused. "Come again?"

"Let you out," Midorima repeats a bit more insistently. "I have the key -" He produces it from the inside pocket of is coat - "right here. Will you at least consider conversing with me if I do so?"

Another laugh from Takao. "If you let me out, I could just fly the hell out of here and never look back, you know."

Midorima nods slowly. "I am aware... but I would rather you... _not_ do that. I will give you the choice, as an equal. But I would prefer that you stay, and tell me about yourself. I want to know about you, not as your owner, but as -" _A friend._ "From one human to another."

"And you'll trust me, just like that?" Takao says skeptically.

Even before Midorima answers, his taped fingers are moving to insert the key into the slot of the lock. "I don't know whether or not you are trustworthy," he admits. "But I suppose I will find out."

The gate on the front of the cage swings open. Midorima finds himself holding his breath.

The creature glances around as if expecting to be apprehended at any moment. When no assault comes, he takes one step out of the cage, then another, his wings unfurling in full as he does so. Midorima is captivated by the way the room's light ripples off every feather like waves, by the way every part of Takao's impossible construction moves in sync, with synergy and purpose, a language all of his own.

"Like what you see?" Takao chuckles and stretches out his arms, his wings expanding as well. "They'd be pretty cool, these wings – if people didn't think I was a freak because of them."

"You're not a freak," Midorima assures him breathlessly. "You're... a work of art."

"Do you always say such embarrassing things?" But there's a dust of pink coloring Takao's cheeks.

The prince shakes his head slowly. “Of course not.” In fact, it’s strange that he’s saying such things now. And yet he can’t seem to stop. “May I touch them?”

“Eh?”

Midorima feels his face heating up. “Your wings…”

Takao looks mildly disgusted, and the prince cringes. “So in the end, you’re just treating me like a circus attraction after all. An animal to be… _petted._ ”

Is that really true? Midorima takes a deep, slow breath. “I am sorry if my request comes across that way. I merely wanted to admire you… not as an attraction, but just as – as you. You were a part of those experiments, and you said people think of you as a freak… I want you to feel, no matter how unnatural you are, that you are… whole.” 

The creature – no, the _person_ – turns his face away from Midorima; the prince cannot tell what he’s thinking and doesn’t want him to be further insulted. When he looks at him again – after a lull that feels like hours – the harshness is gone from his features, and he shuffles closer, close enough for the tips of his wings to brush against Midorima’s shoulder. “Go ahead…”

Hesitantly, Midorima’s fingers stretch out until he can feel the softness of Takao’s feathers against his skin, can feel the other twitching underneath his touch. A moment later Takao jumps back abruptly, and Midorima looks up, startled. “My apologies, did I…?”

The other’s eyes dart to the side. “That kinda tickled.”

Midorima smiles. Not the kind of forced smiles he usually puts on for dinner parties and other social gatherings, but a genuine smile. It makes his face feel sore, as if he hasn’t smiled for a long time. “Sorry.”

“No you’re not!” Takao snaps, and his wings fluff up with indignation to punctuate his sentiment.

It’s – dare Midorima think it – _charming_.

The moment passes, and the two slip back into a tense awkwardness, exacerbated by the reality of their situation. Midorima knows that they can be “friends” all he likes, but at the end of the day Takao is owned by him, and there’s nothing he can do about it. 

But if Midorima lets him go, it would hardly be a mercy, either. The police would most likely shoot Takao on sight as they do with all strays and escaped experiments.

Could they ever truly live as equals?

“What now?” Takao’s voice breaks through his thoughts.

When Midorima looks over, he sees that Takao’s wings aren’t stretched out anymore, but folded up against his spine, guarded. “I’m not sure,” he admits. “If – if you’d like a tour, I could –”

“Not right now,” Takao interrupts. “I’m honestly kinda tired. All that manhandling to get me in there…” He gestures to the empty cage. “And being trapped like that, well. It just – it stressed me out.”

“Understandable,” Midorima replies weakly. He’s never experienced anything even close to that.

“So I was wondering, if maybe I could just… sleep for a while?”

Upon further inspection, Midorima spots bags under the other man’s eyes that he hadn’t noticed before. He nods. “Feel free to use my bed.”

An eyebrow quirks upward. “Me, sleeping in a prince’s bed? Doesn’t that, I dunno… break some sort of royal rule?”

Midorima shrugs. “Perhaps, but I couldn’t care less. I’m hardly going to put you back in that cage. I’ll keep watch – make sure no one comes in and arrests you.” Is he smiling again? That would be a new record – two sincere smiles in one day.

“Gee, thanks.” But that’s all it takes for Takao to relax, crawling into the other’s bed without a second thought and lying down on his side with a soft sigh, wings pressed against his back. “What about you?” he mumbles, his eyes already fluttering shut. “Are you seriously just gonna watch me…?”

Midorima shakes his head, then remembers Takao can’t see him. “No, I’ll lock the door and sit at my desk practicing my calligraphy.”

Takao snorts. “That’s the most rich-boy-sounding thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Just shut up and sleep.”

There’s no response from Takao, and after Midorima locks his room he can see that the other’s chest is rising and falling methodically, that he looks truly relaxed for the first time since his arrival. With a soft exhalation of his own, he pulls up his chair and sits down, staring at the ink pen and blank tapestry atop his desk. But every time his hand reaches for the pen, his eyes instead dart back to Takao’s sleeping form.

_A work of art._

Midorima ends up watching him after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had an idea like this in my head for months, but I know I don't have the stamina or patience to make anything out of it, so I just decided to turn it into a drabble and leave it at that. It was vaguely inspired by a manga called +Anima, about kids with animal abilities who were treated as lower class citizens in society. (It's a good - and short - read; check it out if you have the chance.) I probably won't do anything else with this AU, though.


End file.
